TCF Bank Announces Bold Commitment to Improve Financial IQ of Two Million People over 3 Years with New Free Program for Students and Adults

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nearly half of teens (49 percent) report feeling pretty clueless about money management, according to a new poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation. The survey also identified one of the reasons behind this lack of financial knowledge: 90 percent of teen respondents said they’re not learning everything they need to know about money management.

High school students participating in the new TCF Bank Financial Scholars program, an online teacher-led curriculum on financial-education and money management. (Photo: EverFi)

Findings of the Teen Financial IQ Poll – sponsored by TCF Bank and announced today – also showed that more than a quarter (27 percent) of 17-year-olds don’t feel confident they will have the financial intelligence they’ll need to manage their finances by the time they graduate high school.

“Every high school student, and every adult, should have a firm understanding of money management,” said Tom Jasper, vice chairman, TCF Bank. “This survey demonstrates the urgent need to give young people the tools to better manage their personal finances in order to set them up for a brighter, more successful future. We believe that the more informed people are about money management, the more it benefits them and the communities in which they live.”

Responding to the need to improve financial literacy, TCF Bank today announced it is sponsoring the TCF Bank Financial Scholars program, an online teacher-led curriculum created by EverFi, a leading education-technology company. This program is specifically developed for high school students and is currently being rolled out to more than 100 schools. TCF also announced that it is sponsoring a new online financial-education portal, TCF Bank Financial Learning Center (www.TCFLearning.com), a site designed to provide adults with practical, non-commercial information about money management.

TCF Bank is making an ambitious commitment: It wants to help improve the financial IQ of at least two million people over the next three years by offering EverFi’s courses in schools, as well as through the public portal. Both online courses incorporate video, animations, gaming and social networking to simplify complex financial concepts for people of all ages. The curriculum includes eight to 10 educational sessions, tailored either for high school students or adults. Topics include savings and investments, mortgages, overdraft, payment types and credit cards, credit scores and reports, identity protection, insurance and protection, and financing higher education.

The TCF Bank Financial Scholars program will be offered free to high schools in communities served by TCF Bank, including those in Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Indiana and South Dakota. The TCF Financial Learning Center portal will be open and free to the public now through the end of October, and will always be available for TCF customers.

“By partnering with EverFi, we are providing one of the best education technology platforms available to deliver comprehensive financial literacy education for both teenagers and adults,” commented TCF’s Jasper. “This is a significant investment in our communities and a genuine effort to help people become better consumers of financial services.”

Ray Martinez, co-founder and executive vice president of EverFi, called the TCF Bank Financial Learning Center and the TCF Bank Financial Scholars program, “a bold initiative to address financial literacy. Students who have completed our high school financial education platform have walked away with confidence in money management. There’s a high value to offering the same interactive financial education to teenagers’ parents, as well as other adults.”

More information about the TCF Bank Financial Learning Center can be found at www.TCFLearning.com and information about TCF Bank can be found at tcfbank.com.

About the Teen Financial IQ PollOpinion Research Corporation conducted the polls in early October. Five-hundred teens between the ages of 13 and 17 participated.

Other findings include:

Among teens who plan to attend college, fewer than half (43 percent) have a specific plan to pay for higher education.

The majority of teenagers learn about personal finance from school (60 percent), followed by their parents (54 percent).

Fewer than half of teens (44 percent) have savings accounts, and only 18 percent have checking accounts.

About TCF Financial CorporationTCF Financial Corporation is a Wayzata, Minnesota-based national bank holding company with $18.4 billion in total assets at June 30, 2013. The company has over 425 branches in Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin, Indiana, Arizona and South Dakota, providing retail and commercial banking services. TCF, through its subsidiaries, also conducts commercial leasing and equipment finance business in all 50 states, commercial inventory finance business in the U.S. and Canada, and indirect auto finance business in over 40 states. For more information about TCF, please visit tcfbank.com.

About EverFi, Inc.EverFi, Inc. is the leading education technology company focused on teaching, assessing, and certifying K-12 and college students in the critical skills they need for life. The company teams with major corporations and foundations to provide the programs at no cost to K-12 schools. Some of America’s leading CEOs and venture capital firms are EverFi investors including Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Twitter founder Evan Williams, Rethink Education, New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA), and Tomorrow Ventures (the investment arm of Google Chairman Eric Schmidt). Learn more at www.everfi.com.

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